Here is the full version of how things played out, will alos put this in the hunting forum.
A few weeks ago I finally sold my Marlin 1894SS .44 mag. I used it a couple of times for deer hunting and was very unsatisfied with it's performance on deer. Even with a stout handload using H110 and a 240gr Hornady XTP-HP the performance wasn't what I'd expected. The deer that I took with it tended to cover a lot of distance, even more so than those that I hit with my .30-30. I mostly hunt in thick cover and swamps where 50 yards would be considered a long shot. The last thing you want is to have your deer run deeper into some of this nasty terrain. Add to the fact that lately finding .44 mag ammo as of late is hit and miss and when you do luck onto it, it is insanely expensive the same goes for components. After much deliberation as to what was going to take it's spot as a woods bumming/camp/foul weather gun I setttled on the H&R Pardner in 20GA. It is light weight making it a joy to carry, and shotgun ammo is still plentifull and everywhere.
I wasn't quite sure of what to expect as to it's performance on deer as I never used a 20GA for deer before. My late father liked it though and that is all he ever used, as do a lot of others. So yesterday I got up bright and early and headed out to my buddies woodlot which also has a fairly good sized swamp on it. I made it across the swamp into the hardwoods and decided to set up on the side of a fairly steep ridge, as I 've been seeing the deer move along it in past weekends. The forecast called for lake effect snow yesterday and the temperature was a brisk 29 degrees. This caused some problems as it rained Friday so with every footstep the leaves cruched away beneath my feet. The entire way I thought there is no way that I'm going to see any deer making all this noise.
I finally made it to my destination and picked what looked like a good spot to stand for awhile. It gave me a good vantge point of a small area that was logged off and was since taken over by briars. The deer have made a virtual highway through there, I also was able to see down to the edge of the swamp that the deer like to cross, as well as walk along the edge just inside the woods. I stood there for 2 hours putting up with a red squirrrel chattering away at me for being on his turf when all of a sudden I heard a deer snort below me by the swamp. I was unable to see it due to some spindly trees that were in the way. I thought great there goes my chance this morning. About a half hour later I began to hear movement above me up on the ridge about 30 yards above. At first I though that it was one of those blasted red squirrels again. But as I stood there and listened it became quite clear to me that it was no squirrel.
I ever so slowly started to make my way up the ridge with the leaves crunching away beneath me with every footstep. The whole time the thought that this was nothing more than a futile attempt on my part raced through my mind. Suddenly a flash of movement caught my eye as I looked ahead and above me. There above me 15 yards away and behind a old rotten blow down was a nice 8pt bedded down. The majestic king of the woods was just laying there surveying the ridge below but somehow was oblivious to my presence. What a moment that was, finally after 20 minutes of watching him I decided to see how close I could get before he spooked. I couldn't shoot him as I already filled my buck tag, and there wasn't a shot anyway if I could shoot him. I ended up closing to about 10 yards before he decided to vacate that locale.
Then it started to snow so I figured I'd head back to the house for a couple of hours and come back when the snow let up. I got back out there at 2:00PM, I didn't think that I'd see anything so left my pack in the truck and headed out back towards the ridge, this ended up being a mistake. The woods was quiet and beautiful looking with it's fresh blanket of new snow. My plan was to still hunt the side of the ridge in hopes I could catch anything coming out of the swamp or cut some fresh tracks to follow. As I neared the end of the ridge which is also the edge of the property line I caught a lone doe making here way from the swamp and up the ridge. I was able to move to a vantage point that gave me a good clear shot of roughly 50 yards between the many trees. She stopped for a moment behind some trees then continued towards the clearing I picked out. As soon as she cleared some trees I gave a call with my grunt tube to stop her. Like most Pardner shotguns this 20GA shoots about 5" low with slugs, so I settled the bead on top of her withers. At the shot she jumped indicating a hit and made a brief 20 yard run. When I reached her I found that the Remington 20GA slug had perfectly centered her right shoulder which is what I had expected.
Seconds later I got a text from my buddy asking if that was me that just shot and I responded with a affirmitive. He asked where I was at, when I replied the edge of the property by the pines lets just say his reply back is not fit to post here. So off I went back to the truck to get my pack which had my drag and dressing gloves and link up with my friend. The drag out was awful as it was through the swamp and the total distance was about 1 mile back to the truck. The snow did help out a little though, but the uneven ground, water and covered up dead trees were unforgiving the entire way. As always though it is always worth it in the end, so my deer season here in Northern NY is over. This little 20GA is really growing on me too, I have encountered one problem though. The firing pin pierced the primer on the shell. The firing pin is clean and nicely rounded so I have to check another type of ammo to see if it is just this ammo or in fact there is something wrong with the firing pin. I'm really hoping it is just to soft a primer being this is a new shotgun.
I ensured that the face of the firing was clean when I cleaned it. So now I have to take this to the gunsmith in hopes that he can fix it
I see nor have I ever seen a problem with this shot using a shotgun and slug. Since the slug moves so slowly in comparison to rifle bullets you can eat right up to the hole due to no bloodshot meat. The only problem I had was dragging my bounty a mile through a swamp to the truck
